1st Reading – Isaiah 45:1, 4-6

Thus says the LORD to his anointed, Cyrus,
whose right hand I grasp,
subduing nations before him,
and making kings run in his service,
opening doors before him
and leaving the gates unbarred:
For the sake of Jacob, my servant,
of Israel, my chosen one,
I have called you by your name,
giving you a title, though you knew me not.
I am the LORD and there is no other,
there is no God besides me.
It is I who arm you, though you know me not,
so that toward the rising and the setting of the sun
people may know that there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, there is no other.

Today’s reading from Isaiah was written between 587 and 539 BC, a time of great suffering in Jewish history. The Babylonians had reduced the temple and the city of Jerusalem to ruins, carried the important people of Judah into captivity, and demolished Judah as a nation.

Isaiah offered hope to the exiles by assuring them that God would restore them to the holy land and in so doing, the people of Israel would serve as a revelation of God to other nations.

In today’s reading, the prophet is telling the exiles that Cyrus — the Persian king who, in turn, is now conquering the Babylonians — is God’s instrument of saving power. Continue reading “Oct 22, 2023: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)” →